Stovia,” I fumed. “I am not a fool. I am perfectly capable of avoiding the sharp end of a sword!”
“And”—he ignored me entirely, knowing how much it would further enrage me—“Lady Rogan is to be addressed as such.”
“I asked them to call me Miss Rogan,” I retorted.
He growled, “Well, I’m un-asking them.” His eyes sparked like blue fire. “From now on, if she requests anything, you ask me first before you acquiesce.”
“Yes, sir.” They obeyed.
Wolfe marched away, his spine stiff with irritation.
“I have a name!” I called out to him lamely. She indeed.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Officer Reith whistled. “I don’t know what it is about you, Lady Rogan, but you’re the only one who ever makes Captain lose his composure.”
I frowned and Officer Stark nudged his partner, silently telling him to shut up.
Understanding dawned on Reith’s face and he flushed with embarrassment. He’d remembered then that it was I who had forced Wolfe’s father’s demise.
“Yes,” I replied wryly, “a man tends to react that way around his archenemy.”
I began to walk away, deflated that Wolfe had ruined my lesson. Then I stiffened when I heard Reith mutter to Stark, “I’m not sure that’s what gets Captain so hot.”
I grimaced and kept walking, finding Wolfe among his soldiers as he ordered the men back onto their horses. Of course he saw me as his enemy. Why else was he always baiting me? I wasn’t an idiot—Wolfe hated me as much as I hated him.
And I’d be waiting when he finally came to take his vengeance.
Knowing how to use a sword in the event of such a situation would be useful.
I grumbled under my breath. The man was an antagonistic prig.
I refused to speak with Wolfe after he humiliated me in front of his men; he, in turn, refused to speak to me for enlisting his men’s help behind his back.
He rode ahead the entire way to Peza, and I glared at his back without distraction. Lieutenant Chaeron kept making amused little sounds from the back of his throat but I ignored him, somehow thinking if I stared long and hard enough, the power of my mind might knock Wolfe off his horse and onto his ass.
Having sent one of the men ahead to let Grof Krill Rada know we were arriving, we were met at the gates by Grof Krill’s guards and escorted through Peza to the grof’s home. I stared in wonder at Peza, almost oblivious to the people and their waving and exuberant calls of welcome. I was amazed by the similarities to Silvera. It was as if Silvera had been copied by a master artisan and plunked down in Peza. The architecture was the same, the street plan was the same—even the market square seemed the same, if only a little smaller.
The difference, however, was in the splashes of vibrant color everywhere. Tapestries hung on the outsides of buildings and murals were painted on brick work. I winced at the thought of having to clean and replace those tapestries, and at having to refresh the murals every few years. But this was the city of art—it made sense that the people wished to display their work wherever they could.
The lieutenant caught my astonished expression and grinned. “Remarkable, isn’t it?”
“Extremely.” I was truly charmed by the colorful city.
The grof’s guard quickly led us out of the hubbub of the city to a gated district where large mansions surrounded a beautiful park. When they pulled to a stop outside the largest mansion, I gaped in wonder. I did not know that such buildings existed outside of Haydyn’s palace. With its pillared columns and gothic arches, the mansion was a jumble of architectural ideas … and yet somehow it worked. It was intimidating and palatial.
“Captain Stovia,” the captain of the grof’s guard announced loudly, “Vikomtesa Laurel Sans”—he pointed to the smaller mansion next to this one—“has graciously offered her house and stables for some of your guard. The rest of your men will find rooms and shelter with his lordship. Some will have to sleep in his stables, but I assure you they are spacious and comfortable.”
Wolfe nodded. “Thank you, Captain.” He turned to Chaeron. “Take a group of the men to the vikomtesa’s and introduce yourself. Get some rest. We leave tomorrow at sunrise.”
“So soon, Captain?”
We all turned toward the voice. It belonged to an elegant man who strolled toward us from the house, a huge wolfhound following at his heels.
A footman opened the enormous